Use of AI could worsen racism and sexism in Australia, human rights commissioner warns

AI risks entrenching racism and sexism in Australia, the human rights commissioner has warned, amid internal Labor debate about how to respond to the emerging technology. Lorraine Finlay says the pursuit of productivity gains from AI should not come at the expense of discrimination if the technology is not properly regulated. Finlay's comments follow Labor senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah breaking ranks to call for all Australian data to be "freed" to tech companies to prevent AI perpetuating overseas biases and reflect Australian life and culture. Ananda-Rajah is opposed to a dedicated AI act but believes content creators should be paid for their work. Media and arts groups have warned of "rampant theft" of intellectual property if big tech companies can take their content to train AI models.